Arriving Somewhere

I don’t usually participate in memes, but this one was too silly to pass up. Stolen from Christina.

Do a Google search for “your name needs”.

Thus:
1. Jonathan needs an experienced, skilled family that is understanding of his special needs.
I’m not sure I like the sound of that. Just what exactly do they mean special needs?
2. Jonathan needs to go.
Why? Why does Jonathan need to go? And how exactly will they make me go?
3. Jonathan needs prayer.
I always appreciate prayer… but these answers are starting to make me worried. Is there something I should know?
4. Jonathan needs to start drinking more beer.
Ah, thats more like it.
5. Jonathan needs to draw up a business plan to demonstrate to potential backers that his idea is a sound investment.
Of course my idea is a sound investment.
6. Jonathan needs to restructure his portfolio.
Um, okay
7. Jonathan needs to leave.
Wow, I’m detecting some hostility here
8. Jonathan needs some help with healthy eating and exercise.
No I don’t. Well, maybe a little.
9. Jonathan needs to have the s*** beat out of him.
What’s the deal? Does someone have it in for me?
10. Jonathan needs a one or two parent family that will set guidelines and be consistent in sticking to those standards.
Ay caramba

Ok, well.. I wasn’t expecting that much angst.

Today I discovered a service that everyone who lives in the DC area should know about. Roam Secure is a company that provides a means for local emergency alerts to be distributed to subscribers via text messages and email. This is a way to receive real-time information concerning emergencies, weather, transportation, utilities and such. I signed up to received notices about the neighborhood where I work in DC and for College Park, MD since that haven’t activated coverage of the neighborhood where I live yet.

Head over to http://www.roamsecure.net/ncr.php and select your city or county from the map to sign up to receive alerts.

The last few days have been so nice here that I’ve been going outside for lunch. After a hot September (10 degrees farenheit about average!) and a wet and gloomy first two weeks of October (5 inches of rain in one day!) it looks as though fall has finally arrived. I love sitting outside in the sun with a cool breeze and a book. The campus here is pretty as well… I should bring my camera to work one of these days.

As I suffer from seasonal depression (self-diagnosed) I try to enjoy this time as much as I can before the sun disappears and the air gets frigid. Funny, I never knew how much I needed sunlight until I moved here from California.

Speaking of gloom… I received Opeth’s latest album Ghost Reveries for my birthday this past weekend. Its an awesome album (of course!) but if you are a longtime fan, be forewarned… this album is quite different. I don’t want to be too critical and scare off any new fans so perhaps I’ll have to give the album a full review later. One thing I must mention… Mikael’s voice sounds amazing! He must have had some coaching sessions or something… on “Hours of Wealth” his voice is absolutely magical.

Also, be sure to pre-order your copy of Neal Morse’s latest ?. It will be released November 1st.

technorati tag: Opeth, Neal Morse

As a fan of wi-fi in public spaces, this article about a 700-square mile wireless access zone in Oregon is exciting.

Wi-Fi Cloud Covers Rural Oregon

Parked alongside his onion fields, Bob Hale can prop open a laptop and read his e-mail or, with just a keystroke, check the moisture of his crops.
As the jack rabbits run by, he can watch CNN online, play a video game or turn his irrigation sprinklers on and off, all from the air conditioned comfort of his truck.
…
While his service is free to the general public, Ziari is recovering the investment through contracts with more than 30 city and county agencies, as well as big farms such as Hale’s, whose onion empire supplies over two-thirds of the red onions used by the Subway sandwich chain. Morrow County, for instance, pays $180,000 a year for Ziari’s service. Each client, he said, pays not only for yearly access to the cloud but also for specialized applications such as a program that allows local officials to check parking meters remotely.

Where is the downside to this? Companies that have a stranglehold on local high-speed internet access are loathe to allow any type of competition. In this case the wi-fi is free to the public. All it would take for me to be happy would be for a company other than Comcast to offer broadband or dsl where I live. Nevermind free or low-cost access so that the underprivileged might have access as well. It’s extortion I tell you.

technorati tag: wifi

New Report: “Beslan: Russia’s 9/11?”

Report by John Dunlop Chronicles Hostage Crisis, Russian Coverup

For Immediate Release
Contact: Glen E. Howard, +1 202.364.2466

Washington, DC — The Jamestown Foundation and the American Committee for Peace in Chechnya (ACPC) today published a major investigative report concerning the September 2004 terrorist attacks in Beslan, Russia. Authored by Stanford University expest and former “Chechnya Weekly” editor John Dunlop, the study examines the seige at Beslan Primary School No. 1, which resulted in the deaths of 330 people, including 186 children.

“John Dunlop’s report is the first major examination of the Beslan crisis in the United States,” noted ACPC Executive Director Glen E. Howard, “With the official Russian investigations still underway, it gives Americans a rare glimpse into the events that led to this terribly tragedy.”

Dunlop’s report draws on official Russian sources, including testimony from the trial of Ingush terrorist suspect Nur-Pasha Kulev. It also reports findings from three independent Russian commissions, including a study prepared by the Mothers of Beslan, a group representing mothers who lost children in the siege.

“Dunlop’s conclusions are both startling and significant,” noted Howard, “Many of the terrorists were not Chechens. Many of the casualties resulted from poor Russian planning. These facts challenge the Kremlin’s account of this terrible event.”

Published in conjunction with a major conference on the North Caucasus, the report is available from the ACPC website: http://www.peaceinchechnya.org/reports/Beslan.pdf

I haven’t read it yet, hopefully I can this weekend. Spread the word, people should know what is really going on in Russia.

technorati tag: Beslan, human rights

Sorry for the lack of posting. I’ve been swamped with schoolwork lately. I’ll be back on track soon.

There have been stories out for a while now about different companies who are designing a cheap laptop to be used in developing countries. While I don’t think that providing computers to the hungry will help them eat, it will go a long way in educating people – and education is the key to solving many problems in developing nations.

The MIT Media Laboratory is one group pursuing this goal. An article in Computer World about their project is an interesting read.
MIT to launch $100 laptop prototype in November
Here’s a snippet:

The laptop can be powered either with an AC adaptor or via a wind-up crank, which is stored in the housing of the laptop, where the hinge is located. The laptops will have a 10 to 1 crank rate, so that a child will crank the handle for one minute to get 10 minutes of power and use. When closed, the hinge forms a handle, and the AC cord can function as a carrying strap, according to Negroponte. The laptops will be ruggedized and probably made of rubber, he said. They will have four USB (Universal Serial Bus) ports, be Wi-Fi- and cell phone-enabled and come with 1GB of memory.

The operating system will be Linux, of course. I wonder what flavor.